Samantha’s Traumatic Brain Injury: Week Two

February 27, 2020

It’s been 14 days since Samantha’s brain injury. You can read about her first week HERE. I can’t believe the improvements she’s made since last week. She’s really fighting her way out of the fog. There’s no doubt that she’s an extremely strong person.

HER HEALING:

They started by slowly lowering her sedation a little at a time. She would be “awake” for brief periods and then get really worked up, so they would sedate her again. Eventually she started doing better during the awake periods and so they felt sedation wasn’t necessary anymore. They would still give her pain medicine which made her sleepy though.

Samantha really started interacting with us too. At first it was just hand squeezes and she’d peek her eyes open a little. Now on day 14… it’s fully open eyes. She can turn her head, lift her arms and move them all around, she’s moving one leg but not much movement from the other. She follows basic commands, like she will give me a high five, smile at me, squeeze my hand for yes/no answers, etc.

Everyone asks if she seems like she actually hears us and is looking at us. At times you can tell she’s zoning out, where her eyes are open but she’s not really looking at anything. A lot of the time she can focus on you and follow you around the room with her eyes. She’s getting better at that every day. She watches TV and I’ve shown her videos on my phone, you can tell she’s watching them by her eye movements.

She even got to sit in a chair! She got to sit on the edge of the bed and try to move her legs around too.

They removed the tube from her nose and she had surgery to put a feeding tube into her stomach. She is now breathing all on her own which was a major thing because she developed pneumonia. She also ended up getting a stomach infection called CDiff. It’s highly contagious, so we had to start getting suited up to even enter her room. The pneumonia and CDiff have been treated and she’s doing much better.

This is a bad quality photo but look at that difference! All the stuff off her face probably feels amazing to her. They have mitts on her hands because she kept grabbing at her cords, which they don’t want.

We have some really good news though… they are moving her to the rehabilitation center TODAY!! She’s getting evicted from the hospital and moving on to bigger and better things!!! At first I was a little taken aback by this because for one, she doesn’t even have her skull back on yet!? Two.. she’s still not fully responsive. Apparently that is very normal of TBI patients. They think she’s ready to start getting back to normal self.

She will still have the trach in but they will cap it so she will hopefully be able to actually speak words. I’m definitely missing her voice so I hope she starts talking soon!

HER FAMILY:

Her babies haven’t seen their mom in 14 days. I try not to think about what’s going through their minds because it makes me really upset. Having toddlers close to the same age, I know the devastation they would feel if I wasn’t there every day. It’s heartbreaking.

We go to the hospital every single day. My mom stays there from 8am until she has to pick up the kids from daycare. My brother and his family were up here from Georgia for a full week but had to go back home. She has a great support system. We just want her back home!!!

We want to thank you all for the outpouring love and support for Samantha. We have been brought meals, restaurant gift cards, diapers, wipes, and even a donation of waiting room supplies! Her GoFundMe is higher than we ever would have expected. She’s very well loved and I can’t wait for her to realize how many people care about her.

THE COURT CASE:

We had the first court hearing this week too. It was only a short thing and ended up getting postponed until a later date. It was the first time we were able to see the person who did this to her. I thought I was going to feel a lot of anger but when he walked out, I started crying? I felt so incredibly sad and seeing him made it all feel so real.

Share this:

Comments

I have been praying for her. I don’t understand why happened but they are saying she followed this man to Starbucks. I don’t think a mother of two would be that reckless. But even if she did what he did to her is inexcusably wrong and I hope he gets what,s coming to her. You also need to sue his insurance company for medical and pain and suffering.

Sending prayers for Samantha and her family! I drive by that Starbucks a couple of times a week and I think of her every time. May God heal her body, mind and spirit and make her whole so she can get back to her babies! God bless you all! Amen

Reading this and hearing about how she’s recovering has brought happy tears. I’m so glad to hear she is getting better. I pray day in and day out multiple times a day. I don’t actually know Samantha at all and found this story by accident. But I’m hoping and praying she recovers fully with no bad or lasting issues. Please get better soon Samantha. No one should ever go through what she went through especially over something so stupid. I plan on following this whole thing. God bless.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating

Comment

Name *

Email *

Website

Notify me of follow-up comments by email.

Notify me of new posts by email.

Hi! I’m Nicole, a wife to my sweet husband and a mommy to TWO sets of twins! Our hearts are full with two spunky blue eyed girls and the cutest baby boy girl duo. I love being a mamarazzi and capturing our every day moments. I am so glad you're here. Enjoy and stay awhile!